It’s between Gov. Jay Inslee, Tina Podlodowski for winner of WA politics. What say you?

2018 was a big and noisy year in politics. Joni Balter, host of Civic Cocktail on the Seattle Channel, and Q13 political analyst C.R. Douglas took a look at some big local stories with KUOW’s Angela King.

The first: Who won Washington politics in 2018?

Douglas: Well right at the top of the list I think you've got to put the chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, Tina Podlodowski. She is not a household name, but her influence in 2018 has been vast. She successfully recruited and funded and brought to the finish line a number of Democratic candidates, most notably Kim Schrier, who won the 8th Congressional District.

And then you look at the gains in the state Legislature under her watch. She recruited and helped Democrats pad majorities in both houses. So I think it's hard to pick someone who's had more political wins this year locally.

Balter: My nominee for the 2018 winner of the year in politics, locally anyway, is Governor Jay Inslee. The beginning of the year, Jay Inslee was governor of a somewhat far flung state that nobody ever talked about much but he did have the benefit of being the incoming chair of the Democratic Governors Association and he used that very well.

And a year ago the national campaign talk about Jay Inslee was sort of, “Ha, ha, he might run for president. Isn't that hilarious.” And now people are taking Jay Inslee very seriously. His signature issue which is climate change is rising in prominence. So he will be one of the 27 or 30 people running for president.

King: How about losers politically speaking for 2018?

Balter: Well, hands down that goes to the Seattle City Council. There was a poll done that showed the council job approval ratings in the 30s, when normally a city council would be closer to 50. So one expert called that the lowest in 10 years.

Douglas: Sound Transit is my pick for political loser of the year. And that might seem an odd choice since the agency is laying tracks and moving forward and they weren't on the ballot. But in terms of credibility and goodwill, they really lost ground in 2018. Their light rail extension to Federal Way is now nearly $500 million over budget. That's on top of the link to Lynnwood, which is $500 million over budget. And on top of that we learned earlier this year that the new CEO has been verbally abusive and aggressive with staff so they have hired an outside management consultant.

King: OK, so that’s 2018. Looking ahead to 2019, C.R., what local political story do you think is going to have us talking in the new year?

Douglas: With the padded Democratic majorities in the state Legislature, I think a big story will be to watch what the party does with those. It's really the first time since Jay Inslee became governor that he has had the entire legislature comfortably on his side, so I think you can expect many of his long-held priorities might actually become a reality in the New Year.

Balter: I'm looking at can Mayor Jenny Durkan prove herself to be a competent leader. She needs to work with the unruly City Council, and they're going to be hyper because many of them are running for office. Can she manage the period of maximum constraint. Can she put somebody really good at the head of the Department of Transportation who can count, because so far those folks cannot count. So my eyes are on Jenny Durkan.